Babbling about books and plants.

Yielding to Temptation

There are always a couple of unsellable plants in the corner of the workroom behind the shop, tempting me, tempting me. Why not take a couple of Phalaenopsis, get them to re-bloom, and give them away to friends and family? After all, I know how to get them to re-bloom. In theory.

In practice, though, none of my three mini-phals have re-bloomed yet (I’ve had the first one for about 2 years), and I had no idea where I would put them, or how to get the temperatures right. So I figured I’d wait until I’d found my own flat.

But then, the lady-boss moved two plants off the sales shelves that were still in bloom, still full of buds, but had cold-damaged leaves (the shop door is often left open for a long time while stuff is carried in and out).

What’s a girl to do if those two plants look at her with puppy-dog eyes blooms while she works? What’s a girl to do if she discovers a few bare patches in the living room planter?

Don’t worry, I didn’t actually plant them in there, just placed the pots on top of the dirt.

Don’t ask me what that candle-thingy is doing in there. All kinds of random things end up in this planter, the plants most definitely included. Except for the big Ficus binnendijkii ‘Alii’, which I bought specifically for this planter after having to throw out the original inhabitant (a huge Yucca elephantipes), everything in there was just put in because there was no other room for it.

Amazingly, most has survived so far (technically, everything is still alive, but the Fittonia isn’t looking too grand).

Talking about looks, the Phalaenopsis aren’t exactly anything special (and I’m pretty bored by them), but they do provide a bit of colour.